


Like a moth to the flame

by cian1675



Category: Block B
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Mystery, Vampires, alot of these are not in your face but I figured I'll tag it anyway, deaths in the form of vampires being turned mentioned, detective!jiho, illicit investigations, jiho (and yukwon) are part of the police department that takes care of supernatural crime, zombies mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 15:30:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14167932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cian1675/pseuds/cian1675
Summary: "Did you see it?”“See what?” Jiho dumps his messenger bag on his seat, throws Yukwon a glance. Yukwon has his phone out, which is rare when he's on duty, and his hair is messy like he's ran his hand through it too many times.“The viral video of someone being turned into a vampire. Some called it an erotic snuff film.” Yukwon snorts, pushes his flopping fringe back from his face and passes his phone over to Jiho.“That’s messed up,” Jiho says, but he ends up pressing play on the video anyway.





	Like a moth to the flame

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this video](https://twitter.com/bontheblock/status/836684574033854464) Minhyuk posted of Jaehyo and Jihoon.
> 
> I previously posted a [drabble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10697277) that was inspired by the same video, and this isn't the same story or even in the same universe as that drabble, but one thing that's similar through both stories is the questionable themes behind the story. As usual, all the questionable morals/behaviour are in the background but it's there, so please be warned. Other than that, have fun reading :)

**Prologue**

The room is dim. There’s a sliver of skin revealed, gleaming red from the neon streetlights outside.  Two male bodies face each other, one straddling the other’s lap. Their faces are in shadows, blurry. Only the expanse of collarbone exposed is clear, framed against wide shoulders. In the background, soft music plays, and fingers caress the nape of that exposed neck.

“Gorgeous,” the one above says, voice low enough that the words are barely discernable. There’s a soft hum from the other guy, and then the camera zooms in. The guy above leans in closer, lips parting, a string of saliva reflecting neon red as he nuzzles the other’s neck. And then, without warning, there’s a flash of sharp fangs breaking skin too fast and the soft music is drowned out by loud slurping sounds. The camera is filled with only red, a much darker crimson than the neon lights, and then not long later, all that could be seen is a weakly spasming body.

Everything fades to black.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~

 

 

 

“Did you see it?”

“See what?” Jiho dumps his messenger bag on his seat, throws Yukwon a glance. Yukwon has his phone out – rare, he hardly uses it when on duty even though they’re always just inside the police station – and his hair is messy like he's ran his hand through it too many times.

“The viral video of someone being turned into a vampire. Some called it an erotic snuff film.” Yukwon snorts, pushes his flopping fringe back from his face and passes his phone over to Jiho.

“That’s messed up,” Jiho says, noting the dark thumbnail of the video before he cautiously presses play. Just because he’s probably seen worse in his job doesn’t mean he’s looking forward to whatever this is. He sucks his lower lip between his teeth as the video starts.

The first scene is a dim room, two figures in the centre, one sitting on the other. They’re too close to be anything but intimate, and at a glance it all looks like some weird porno’s attempt at film noir. Yukwon comes up beside him.

“Just watch,” he says, and Jiho does. The two men in the video move closer, lips and bare collarbones coming into focus, and when fangs sink into flesh and thick red blood spills, Jiho finds himself blinking at the screen speechlessly.

“You okay?”

Yukwon has a hand on his shoulder, eyebrows knitted in concern. Jiho has to swallow a few times before he can speak.

“Y-yeah. I’m ok.”

Yukwon takes his phone back, looks at him a little worriedly still. “You sure? I mean, that’s not peaches and sunshine but you look more shaken than when we had to collect those zombies burnt to a crisp the other day.”

Jiho forces down the dry lump in his throat, makes himself smile though it probably comes out like a grimace. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he says, but he isn’t. Not when he had recognised one of the men in that video. “Is someone investigating this?”

Yukwon thinks for a moment. “Yeah, I think team two is on it. They’re the ones working on vampire cases usually.” Then, he looks at Jiho, seems to see something because he adds, “Why? Do you know something? Are you interested in the case?”

Jiho makes himself laugh. “No. Just wondering, that’s all.”

The lie tastes sour on his tongue but he can’t tell Yukwon he’d spotted the small blurry KR tattoo on the wrist of the guy being drained, especially not when the video had passed so fast that he’s not sure he hadn’t imagined the detail himself. Besides, it’s not like Jiho’s allowed vampire cases anymore so he just keeps his mouth shut and gets to work like nothing’s wrong.

 

~~

 

Dinner later that night is takeout, greasy and cheap. Taeil looks up from his many computer screens when Jiho enters his apartment, not even surprised.

“Knock before you enter,” Taeil bites out, but Jiho only has to shrug apologetically for Taeil to roll his eyes and leave it. He goes for the food instead. “You suck at this. It’s already past midnight.”

Jiho picks up the sweet and sour pork, offers it to Taeil like it’s a bribe. Maybe it is. He’s going to ask Taeil for a favour after all.

“Sorry, the station had an emergency case just as I was finishing up.”

Taeil picks up the fried pork with his fingers, sticks it into his mouth. “You’re lying. No one has an emergency case of zombies at ten at night. It’s too early.”

Jiho raises his brows. “I’m not lying.” Taeil doesn’t press, just waves the pork around as he starts ripping off the wrapper of his jjangjangmyeon.

“Woo Jiho, I’ve known you for too long, don’t bother. Anyway, just spill. What do you want? You hardly have time to come by even though I live one floor up and now you’re suddenly here with food. What do you need from me this time?”

Jiho has a mouthful of noodles in his mouth. He has to chew and swallow before he can answer.

“I… need you to help me track down the source of this video.”

Taeil’s chopsticks pause. He frowns a little, the expression darkening his boyish features.

“Doesn’t your station have a department to do this kind of stuff? Tech officers and all that? Why are you asking me to do this?”

Jiho runs his tongue over his teeth. The black bean sauce tastes a little too starchy. “Well… It’s technically not my case.”

Taeil doesn’t even bother hiding his sigh.

“Jiho –”

“I know what I’m doing, hyung.”

Maybe it’s the hyung that does it, or maybe Taeil’s just soft-hearted, because he sighs, a long-suffering exhale, and then he sticks his chopsticks back into his noodles.

“Fine, I’ll do it, but you’ll owe me, Jiho.”

Jiho grins, or tries to, without thinking of why he needs this favour to begin with.

“Thanks, hyung.”

Taeil waves a hand dismissively.

“Thank me by coming by more often. With food too, if possible.”

Jiho laughs.

“Sure.”

 

~~

 

It takes Taeil two days.

“Dude hide his trail pretty well, but I got something,” is what Taeil says the moment Jiho picks up his phone, no _‘hi’s_ , no _‘how you doing’s_. Jiho settles his phone between his ear and shoulder, tries to continue his boring paper work at the station while listening to Taeil.

“Okay, great,” Jiho says when Taeil finishes dumping the relevant information on him. “So, it was uploaded from a PC café in Hongdae, huh. Text me the address again, just in case I forget.”

Taeil’s reply is a huff of “Yeah, yeah, as if you’ll forget when you have a photographic memory, asshole,” and then Jiho’s hanging up, typing the address into his phone before Taeil’s even sent him the message.

 

~~

 

It’s two hours after work when Jiho makes his way to Hongdae, the crowd not particularly thick on a weekday night but still stifling nonetheless. He enters the internet café, finds the lone staff sitting at the counter. There’s also a file with all the customer logs on it right at the counter and Jiho doesn’t even have to flash his police badge. Lucky. He picks up a pen, flips through it causally like he needs help trying to figure out how to fill in a simple log.

“Just write your name and pay,” the guy says, and Jiho smiles, quickly flipping through the pages again.

“Yeah, no problem, just uh –” the guy looks at him, bored and skeptical, and Jiho finds himself coming up with – “Wanna check if my buddy’s here you know. We usually arrange to play together but I’ve been skipping out on him. Won’t want him to realise I’m here tonight when I’ve been bailing.”

“Sure,” counter-guy says, waving a hand for Jiho to hurry up. Jiho quickly scans the pages again, then smiles, scribbling his name into today’s log.

_Park Taewoon, 11.15pm._

“Thanks,” Jiho says, and gets into an empty booth near the back. He doesn’t do anything, just switches the computer on and brings up some gaming videos that he doesn’t watch to pass the time until it’s safe to leave.

 

~~

 

It takes him a while to search through all the names logged on the night the video was uploaded, but eventually Jiho narrows it down to the last log of that night, a Lee Minhyuk who came in at 11.50pm just ten minutes or so before the viral video was officially up. Of course, the original video was also almost immediately taken down after it was first uploaded, but it was quickly reuploaded by a few other sources. Jiho’s not sure if that was done to hide the trail, or if the initial upload was a mistake of sorts, later tragically and permanently etched into the internet with one wrong click and multiple reuploads. He’ll never know, though it doesn’t really matter, he supposes. Jiho licks his lips, salty with the remnants of his takeout dinner, leg bouncing with nervous energy.

 _Lee Minhyuk_ , he types into the police database, a misuse of his authority, perhaps, but it’s after hours and Yukwon isn’t around to care. There’re a lot of Lee Minhyuks in this area. Jiho starts scanning though all the results. To be honest, it’s a reach, a flimsy clue at best, but Jiho’s been carefully shadowing all the names on the PC cafe list, and Lee Minhyuk is the only one left. He just has to continue, continuing chasing down the trail until there’s nothing left but the answer.

 

 

~~

 

_(Isn’t that how things are supposed to be? Eliminate the possibilities, and whatever’s left, no matter how impossible, would be the answer.)_

 

~~

 

It’s not Lee Minhyuk who answers the door. Jiho’s knocked on a dozen doors so far, seen a whole lot of Lee Minhyuks, but he knows for sure that the man who just opened the door for him isn’t Minhyuk because –

“Jiho… I didn’t expect you here.”

“…Jaehyo,” Jiho manages to say. “How…” _are you_ , he almost asks, if not for the fact that it’s so… _trite_ in the face of what has happened. He had known this on some level since he’d seen that video, but coming face to face with Jaehyo’s now alabaster skin when he’d remembered a sunkissed glow just made it real. “You…You’re a _vampire_ ,” Jiho states instead, half a question even though he knows the answer already.

Jaehyo’s pupils quiver, before he closes his eyes, and sighs.

“Yeah.”

They stand like this for a while, Jiho in the hallway, Jaehyo with his hand on the frame of the door. And then, like Jaehyo had figured out that Jiho hadn’t thought so far ahead beyond finding him, Jaehyo sighs. “Do you have more things to say, or do we have to stand here awkwardly for longer?”

“I…”

Jaehyo’s probably going to close the door on him if he doesn’t give an explanation, and were he in Jaehyo’s shoes, Jiho would probably do the same thing.

“I didn’t expect that the first time I see you after we break up would be you, on video, getting turned into a …vampire.”

Jaehyo looks at him, resigned.

“What’s your point?”

“You… are a vampire now,” Jiho licks his lips, tries to find a way to say this without prejudice. “Just, _why_?”

“I didn’t do it to spite you, if that’s what you think,” Jaehyo mumbles, half a joke, but Jiho hears the same patterns in this conversation as the ones that’d led up to their breakup a year ago.

“No, I can’t imagine I was still that important to you,” Jiho manages to get out, tries to pass it off as nonchalant.

Jaehyo raises a brow. “Look, I get that you hate vampires, and for good reason, but not everything is so black and white.”

Jiho wants to laugh. Jaehyo’s one of the few people who he’d confided in about the reason for his fixation – his hatred – of vampires, and this is what it has come down to.

“So my best friend getting mauled by vampires while we were on duty is just ‘a good reason’ to hate vampires now, huh.”

Jaehyo’s lips thin, but all he says is –

“Don’t you think there’s a reason why your own department forbade you from vampire cases after the first few they gave you post-accident? Jiho, in case you haven’t realised, you are _obsessed_ with vampires, but not every vampire is like the group who’d killed Kyung. There are bad vampires, just like there are bad humans. It’s not so simple.”

Jiho looks at him, surprised Jaehyo even said so much. He wants to land a punch in the middle of that straight nose, that pretty face, but at the same time, some more rational part of Jiho’s mind also acknowledges that Jaehyo’s words are not… without reason.

“What’s your excuse then? Getting turned, and caught on camera, no less.”

Jaehyo’s face hardens, and oh, he’s pissed him off now. This is turning out like another one of those countless arguments they’d had before, last year. Before they had broken up. Not long after Kyung had died.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Woo Jiho,” Jaehyo states, voice hard, already stepping back into the apartment, trying to close the door.

Jiho makes no move to stop him, knows Jaehyo won’t mind slamming the door on his fingers if that’s what it has to come down to. He thinks he’s just going to get a door to his face, but Jaehyo says one last thing before he shuts it.

“If you must know, I was going to die anyway. The doctors found something in my lungs. And then a vampire offered to turn me, asked if I’ll like to have a little more time, so here I am now, way past my expiration date because of someone from a species you hate so much.”

He’d expected the door to his face but the impact hits him hard regardless. Jiho finds himself standing in the hallway for long afterwards, Jaehyo’s words slowly – finally – sinking in.

 _It’s not so simple,_ Jaehyo had said.

(Ain’t it always?)

Jiho stands there for way too long, slumping to the floor after a while, tired but nowhere near sleepy. It’s later, much much later, when his alarm rings in his back pocket that Jiho finally gets up, picks himself up and heads to work like nothing’s changed.

Maybe it can be that simple.

(Maybe…

Maybe not.)

 

 

 

~~~~~~~

 

 

 

**Epilogue**

“Do you think Jaehyo really believes that Minhyuk-hyung uploaded the video by mistake?”

In the dark of the room, someone laughs, and another joins in, just a brief chuckle.

“Jihoon-ah, I know Jaehyo, and he’s not dumb.”

“I still don’t get why you wanted me to turn him, you know.” There’s a distinct pout in Jihoon’s voice, said as if he’s the youngest in the room, even though he’s not. “And why was there a need to turn Jaehyo on camera with all the kinky red lighting and Minhyuk-hyung’s artsy fartsy camera work anyway?”

“Have patience, young one,” Minhyuk says, an arm slung around Jihoon casually, “And learn to appreciate art sometimes.”

Jihoon throws Minhyuk’s arm off, then turns to the other vampire in the room.

“Come on, Kyungie. Please tell me there’s at least a bigger plot to this whole thing and I didn’t just get saddled with a mopey fledging and his psycho police officer of an ex-boyfriend for nothing.”

Kyung walks over, pats Jihoon’s head like he’s older than Jihoon, like he isn’t the youngest vampire of the three, only a year or two older than Jaehyo, their newest fledging. Speaking of Jaehyo, Kyung should probably meet him in this form, one day, soon.

“Come on, Jihoon, don’t you trust me? This is definitely bigger than you turning a dying Ahn Jaehyo into a vampire and having Woo Jiho led on a wide goose chase.”

Jihoon pouts, looking like he doesn’t believe him, but Minhyuk gives a look of approval – or nonchalance, hard to tell with him sometimes – and Jihoon relents.

“Fine. I’ll let you keep me in the dark for a while more, but you know how much I hate being in the dark.”

Kyung walks to the switch, turns on the lights.

Minhyuk laughs, even as he squints from the artificial lighting.

“Harsh,” Kyung grins, fangs flashing.

**Author's Note:**

> This is closer to what I wanted to write when I first saw that video and yet, somehow, it feels like there's alot more that could have been written. Well, either way, it's done as it is, and I'll love to know what you think! Comments and kudos are always appreciated~ ^^


End file.
